Viral CCTV footage from Wang Fuk Court blaze raises alarm over silent fire bell

1st December 2025 – (Hong Kong) The catastrophic No. 5 -alarm fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on Wednesday, 26th November, has already claimed more than 100 lives and triggered a wave of anger among residents, who allege that fire alarms failed to sound during the blaze. Subsequent inspections by the Fire Services Department reportedly found that alarm systems in eight blocks were not functioning properly: although the systems were not switched off, the bells did not emit any sound. Enforcement action against the fire service installations contractor is being pursued.

By Monday, 1st December, a video circulating widely online purported to show CCTV footage from inside Wang Kin House at Wang Fuk Court, on Tai Po Road (Yuen Chau Tsai), captured at the height of the fire. In the clip, a male resident is seen repeatedly striking a fire alarm bell with a hard object in an apparent attempt to activate it, but no alarm can be heard. A female resident in the corridor is heard remarking that “it is burning very badly over there”.

The footage has shocked social media users, many of whom condemned the apparent failure of the system, questioning how such a large-scale scaffolding and façade project could be wrapped in netting while the alarms allegedly remained inoperative. Comments included claims that the silent alarm had “cost many lives” and assertions that the absence of any audible signal clearly indicated a serious fault. Some users, however, voiced doubts over whether the clip was genuinely recorded inside Wang Kin House.

The Wang Fuk Court blaze escalated with extraordinary speed. The first report of fire was made at 2.51pm on 26th November. The incident was upgraded to a No. 3 alarm at 3.02pm, to No. 4 at 3.34pm, and further raised to the highest No. 5 alarm at 6.22pm. Seven blocks in the estate, including Wang Kin House, were affected as flames spread along external scaffolding and into multiple flats, with some units seen engulfed in intense fire.

The video, posted on Threads at around 5pm on 1st December, was shared with a caption claiming it to be CCTV footage from outside a flat in Wang Kin House, stating that the fire alarm could not be triggered. The 23‑second clip, time‑stamped 3.24pm on 26th November, shows a man dressed in black walking up to the alarm point in a corridor and striking the bell repeatedly, creating loud “bang” sounds but producing no alarm tone.

He then attempts several times to press the alarm mechanism, again without apparent effect. As he turns towards the rear staircase, a woman approaches and asks whether there is a fire extinguisher downstairs, saying the fire is extremely severe in another area. The man replies that there is none and proceeds towards the stairwell.

Viewers of the clip expressed disbelief and anger online, criticising what they saw as a grave failure of basic fire safety provisions and insisting that a non-functioning alarm system must have been a significant contributing factor to the scale of the tragedy. Others questioned whether residents properly understood how to operate the equipment but maintained that, if an alarm fails to sound when correctly activated, there is clearly a technical problem. Questions also remain among some users about the authenticity and exact location of the footage.